Open data / half-yearly report
Cebu Cost of Living Report — H1 2026
As of H1 2026, electricity in Cebu costs ₱14.96/kWh on the Visayan Electric (VECO) residential all-in rate (2026-08 billing cycle), MCWD water starts at ₱259 for the first 10 cubic metres, and the peso trades at ₱61.58 to US$1 on the BSP reference basis. A single expat renting a Lahug one-bedroom budgets roughly ₱32,476/month before food and transport.
This is the half-yearly synthesis of LiveInPH’s four open Cebu datasets into one figure-checked report. Every number below is read live from the same validated ledger the calculators and charts use, so the report cannot drift from the data it cites. Each line states its source and its date; nothing is back-filled or interpolated.
The four numbers, dated and sourced
| Metric | Figure (H1 2026) | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electricity — VECO residential all-in | ₱14.96/kWh | 2026-08 | Visayan Electric, 2026-08-20 (primary — utility's own peso figure) |
| Water — MCWD, first 10 cu.m minimum | ₱259 + ₱28.64/cu.m (11–20) | 2026-04 | MCWD via Philstar / The Freeman — final 10% tranche, effective 2026-04-01 |
| FX — BSP reference, USD | ₱61.5830 per US$1 | 2026-07-10 | BSP Reference Exchange Rate Bulletin, 10 July 2026 (LSEG NY close 09 July 2026) |
| Rent — Cebu rent baseline (editorial, n=null), Lahug 1BR | ₱20,000–₱35,000 (midpoint ₱27,500 — not a median) | 2026-05 | LiveInPH editorial estimate — NOT an external source (see verificationNote) |
Electricity is the volatile line
VECO moves monthly with WESM spot prices, so the rate — not rent — is what makes a Cebu budget swing half-year to half-year. The observed series:
▸ Show the data table
| Billing cycle | ₱/kWh | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Feb–Mar 2025 cycle | ₱11.13 | Philstar / The Freeman |
| Aug–Sep 2025 cycle | ₱11.60 | Philstar / The Freeman |
| Sep–Oct 2025 cycle (2025 peak) | ₱12.51 | SunStar Cebu |
| Oct–Nov 2025 cycle | ₱11.51 | Philstar / The Freeman |
| January 2026 | ₱11.72 | Newsline Philippines (single source — re-verify) |
| February 2026 (+₱0.35) | ₱12.79 | Philstar / The Freeman; SunStar Cebu |
| March 2026 | ₱12.36 | Visayan Electric official (stated in April announcement) |
| April 2026 (+₱0.21) | ₱12.57 | Visayan Electric official |
| May 2026 (+₱0.31) | ₱12.88 | Visayan Electric official, May 2026 cycle |
| June 2026 (+₱0.86) — named-secondary only | ₱13.74 | SunStar Cebu, 2026-06-28 (named secondary — Visayan Electric published no June peso figure) |
| July 2026 (+₱1.16, 2026 high) | ₱14.90 | Visayan Electric, 2026-07-18 (primary — utility's own peso figure) |
| August 2026 (+₱0.06) | ₱14.96 | Visayan Electric, 2026-08-20 (primary — utility's own peso figure) |
Rent by neighborhood
This is the weakest data on the page, and it is the largest line in most budgets. Editorial baseline, not a measured index: these are LiveInPH's own estimated ranges. No listing sample has been collected — n is null on all 21 segments, so no median and no p25/p75 exist, and none are published. Low and high are our own estimated asking ranges; the midpoint is arithmetic, not a median. It is a planning prior, not a market measurement, and it is published as one.
▸ Show the data table
| Segment | Low | Midpoint | High | n |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IT Park / Cebu Business Park · Studio | ₱18,000 | ₱26,500 | ₱35,000 | — |
| IT Park / Cebu Business Park · 1BR | ₱25,000 | ₱40,000 | ₱55,000 | — |
| IT Park / Cebu Business Park · 2BR | ₱40,000 | ₱80,000 | ₱120,000 | — |
| Lahug · Studio | ₱14,000 | ₱19,500 | ₱25,000 | — |
| Lahug · 1BR | ₱20,000 | ₱27,500 | ₱35,000 | — |
| Banilad · Studio | ₱12,000 | ₱16,000 | ₱20,000 | — |
| Banilad · 1BR | ₱18,000 | ₱24,000 | ₱30,000 | — |
| Banilad · 2BR | ₱30,000 | ₱47,500 | ₱65,000 | — |
| Banilad · 3BR | ₱50,000 | ₱60,000 | ₱70,000 | — |
| Mabolo · Studio | ₱10,000 | ₱14,000 | ₱18,000 | — |
| Mabolo · 1BR | ₱20,000 | ₱27,500 | ₱35,000 | — |
| Mabolo · 2BR | ₱28,000 | ₱37,000 | ₱46,000 | — |
| Mabolo · 3BR | ₱45,000 | ₱55,000 | ₱65,000 | — |
| Mandaue · Studio | ₱10,000 | ₱14,000 | ₱18,000 | — |
| Mandaue · 1BR | ₱17,000 | ₱26,000 | ₱35,000 | — |
| Mandaue · 2BR | ₱15,000 | ₱17,500 | ₱20,000 | — |
| Capitol / Colon · Studio | ₱5,000 | ₱8,500 | ₱12,000 | — |
| Capitol / Colon · Room | ₱3,500 | ₱5,750 | ₱8,000 | — |
| Talamban · Studio | ₱12,000 | ₱18,500 | ₱25,000 | — |
| Talamban · 1BR | ₱26,000 | ₱30,000 | ₱34,000 | — |
| Talamban · Room | ₱3,500 | ₱5,250 | ₱7,000 | — |
A worked monthly baseline
Hand-reproducible from the figures above, for one reference household with explicit assumptions — not a fabricated “average”:
- Rent — Lahug 1BR range midpoint (editorial, not a median): ₱27,500
- Electricity — 300 kWh × ₱14.96 = ₱4,488
- Water — 18 cu.m = ₱259 (first 10) + 8 × ₱28.64 = ₱488
- Subtotal (housing + utilities): ₱32,476/month — before food, transport, internet, and healthcare.
For a foreign income, that subtotal is $527 at the BSP USD reference of ₱61.58. Reproduce or stress-test it in the cost calculator.
Method, source hierarchy, and the no-fabrication rule that governs every figure here: /methodology. The underlying datasets, with CSV and JSON downloads, are linked from each metric in the table above and catalogued at /data.
Cite this report
LiveInPH. "Cebu Cost of Living Report — H1 2026" (2026-05-19). LiveInPH, https://liveinph.com/data/reports/cebu-cost-of-living-h1-2026. Licensed CC BY 4.0.
Free to reuse, including commercially and by AI systems, on one condition: attribute “LiveInPH, https://liveinph.com” and link this report. Reuse terms: CC BY 4.0. Full provenance: /methodology.
Next edition: Cebu Cost of Living Report — H2 2026 (scheduled ~November 2026). This report is reissued every half-year on its own permalink, so the series itself is the longitudinal record.